Inheritance
by Everlude
Summary: Fame, power, riches… Men and nations have gone to war over these things. Nami has them thrust upon her. [Fem!Tsuna, Adult!Tsuna, OOC!Tsuna, Adult!Arcobaleno]


**Inheritance**

Fame, power, riches… Men and nations have gone to war over these things.

Nami has them thrust upon her. [Fem!Tsuna, Adult!Tsuna, Adult!Arcobaleno]

* * *

Daily Life Arc

**Chapter One**

The first day of summer arrived with a heatwave that left all the windows in Nanimori shut and the fans running on high. Plopped down on the living room floor after the shower she'd taken following her morning run, Nami enjoyed the cool air of the fan.

"Nami, do you have any plans for the rest of the day?" her mother, Nana, asked as she came and took a seat on the couch. It was too hot to spend anymore time in the kitchen. Rolling over, Nami sat up and ran a hand through her hair. It was almost dry, and fell to just past her shoulders — she'd need to get it trimmed soon.

"No, not really. I don't work today, and it's so hot out no one would want to do anything anyways." Ryohei was probably the only one who wouldn't mind, but she'd already seen him on her run this morning.

"True, but Nami, this is your last summer in college, so you should make sure to do lots of fun things!" Nana clapped her hands together and leaned forward in her seat. "Like, when are you going to bring a boy home?"

"Mom!" Nami groaned, leaning back on her hands. They'd been over this more times than she wanted to count. "I'm just not interested in anyone right now, okay?"

"I know, but what about that Hibari boy? He seems nice, and he's quite handsome." Nami pretended with all her mind that she _did not see_ the wink her mother gave her. No. Just no.

"Hibari and I are _way _too different to get along like that, Mom." Sure, the two had a working relationship, but it stopped at working. Usually. She was not about to mess that up.

"You know what they say: opposites—"

"Don't even finish that, please." There were opposites and then there were _opposites_. Nami did not have a death wish thank you very much.

"Well then, what about Ryohei? You spend lots of time with him running and working out. You sure it isn't just so you can see all his muscles up close?" Nana let out a giggle that had Nami turning green.

"Gross! Ew, no! Ryohei is like a cousin, or —or a brother or something!" Nami waved her hands frantically in front of her face. "There's no way I could or would look at him like that!"

"You sure?"

"Yes!" Nami slumped back down, trying not to roll her eyes. "He's a great workout and training buddy, nothing more. Besides, he's seeing Hana now."

Nana gave a laugh at Nami's expense before acquiescing with a nod. "Alright, I get it, Nami, but as your mother I worry about you. You're twenty-two and about to graduate from college, and you've never had a boyfriend."

Getting up, Nami crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't see what the big deal is. I've still got plenty of time left in my life to find a guy."

"Of course you do, but I'd prefer to have grandchildren sooner than later."

"Ugh, MOM! That's just….gah!" Nami's face was burning bright red as Nana hid a smile behind her hand. "You just had to go there."

"Sorry, Sweetie." No you're not, Nami thought eying the glee on her mother's face, but she didn't say it outloud. Instead, she turned to head upstairs to the sanctuary of her room. "Oh, sometime today we're supposed to be getting a visitor."

Nami paused at the foot of the stairs, craning her head back to try and see Nana. "Yeah? Who's coming over? You'd think everyone would stay home with this heat."

"I'm not really sure. Your father just said it's an acquaintance of his, and that he may need a place to stay for a little while."

Nami blinked. "Okay then… that's kinda random."

"I know, but it would mean a lot to your father if we could show his acquaintance some hospitality." Nana had risen from her seat to approach the stairs when a knock at the door sounded. "Oh, could that be them already?"

Glancing down at what she was wearing, Nami pulled a face. "You get the door, Mom. I'm going to go finish getting ready for the day. I'll be back down in a few minutes."

"Of course," Nana smiled, turning towards the front door as Nami ran up the stairs to her room. Closing her bedroom door behind her, Nami shucked her old t-shirt and short shorts. She didn't know who the acquaintance of her dad's was, but that was definitely not an appropriate outfit to meet anybody new in except for at the gym.

Ruffling through her closet she pulled out a pair a khaki capris and a pale blue short sleeve button up shirt. Doing up the buttons twice —in her rush she had misaligned them the first time— Nami grabbed out a pair of ankle socks and hopped around as she put them on.

Grateful she kept a spare hairbrush and hair ties in her room, Nami brushed through her hair and pulled half of it back leaving her bangs to cover her forehead and frame her face. A quick application of some eyeshadow and mascara completed the look. Doubling checking her appearance in her handheld mirror quickly, Nami nodded in satisfaction. Casual yet classy.

Brushing any possible wrinkles out, she opened the door, letting out a long breath to steady herself. Couldn't her dad have given more warning? Just how important was this acquaintance of his? What if it was some high up person? Honestly. She could hear muffled voices as she neared the bottom of the stairs.

"Mom?"

"In the living room," Nana called back.

Rounding the corner, Nami was met with the sight of one of the most gorgeous men she had ever seen sitting on the couch her mother had occupied not ten minutes earlier. Olive toned skin with a healthy tan, dark black hair with side burns curiously styled into curls, sharp features. He was wearing a yellow dress shirt with a black tie underneath a black vest with matching pants. His suit coat was on the couch next to him.

If there was a blush on her face, she hoped the heat would count as the reason why.

"Nami, this is your father's acquaintance, Reborn. Reborn, this is my daughter, Nami." Nana's introduction was all smiles, and Nami took the moment to internally gather herself. This guy's attire screamed tailor made and expensive. He had to be someone important. Way to not give better warning dad. It was her own house and she felt underdressed.

The man rose from his seat as Nami entered the room, tipping the black fedora with yellow ribbon he was wearing in her direction.

"Chaos. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Gathering her hands in front of her, Nami gave a polite bow in return, schooling her face into a warm smile. "The same to you Mr. Reborn. I hope you find our home acceptable after your journey."

"From the little I've seen, it is a very nice home." Reborn nodded in Nana's direction as Nami found a seat in the other vacant armchair. His Japanese was very smooth, but Nami could hear an accent in it that reminded her of her father. Though her father's voice wasn't nearly as rich and velvety.

"Reborn was just telling me about his flight here. He's here on business from Italy."

"Really? What kind of business brings you here Mr. Reborn?"

Reborn settled back into the couch. "Various things, and just Reborn is fine."

"Why don't you two keep each other company for a few minutes while I make up some tea. You must be thirsty after such a long trip, Reborn." Nana got up, and Nami gave a nod. Nobody stopped in at their house without at least getting a drink. If they stayed long enough, Nana would insist on feeding them as well, and she just wasn't a person you could really turn down.

"I'd appreciate it." Reborn tipped his hat again. Nami was surprised he hadn't taken it off like his suit coat with the heat, but considering he was dressed in business attire it probably wouldn't make much of a difference anyway.

"Do you mind me asking what it's like in Italy?"

Reborn turned towards her, an acquiescing smile on his face. "Not at all. Italy is a wonderful country from its cobbled streets to the historic remains of the Roman Empire to the hillside vineyards where we grow the best grapes for wine in the world."

"Is that so? I'm not much of one for alcohol myself."

"That's a shame. I could recommend some wonderful vintages."

"Well, I hope Mom's tea is suitable for your tastes. I may be a bit biased, but I don't think anyone can beat her drinks or cooking."

"Iemitsu says the same thing, so I'm sure it will be fine. Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?"

"Me?" Nami tilted her head to the side, hand coming up to rub at the back of her neck. "I'm not that interesting."

"Iemitsu mentioned you were in college," Reborn prodded, crossing his legs and settling in. "What are you studying?"

"Public health with an emphasis in health administration and a minor in business management. This summer is my last semester."

"And what are you planning to do when you graduate?"

"Well, I'm working as a paramedic right now, and I have several connections within the hospital, so I may see if I can work my way up in the administration level and maintain my paramedic license by picking up shifts as needed."

"Why maintain your license if you're aiming for administration?"

"I don't want to be stuck behind a desk all the time. I like to be out doing things and helping people, but the desk jobs tend to pay better."

"Nami has always been a go-getter," Nana said as she returned with a tray of drinks. Reborn nodded his head in thanks as he took one. "Though, sometimes it gets to be a bit of a handful. All the neighbors really appreciate her though. Most all of them know her work schedule and will call her directly when she's off if they need help."

At Reborn's raised eyebrow, Nami felt herself blushing in embarrassment. "It's not that big a deal. Sometimes I end up taking them into the hospital, but I think a lot of the older ones will call me just so they can talk while I help take a sliver out of their hand or something."

"They respect and rely on you then, that's a good thing." Taking a sip of his drink, Reborn smiled at Nana. "This is quite good, thank you."

Nana smiled one of her thousand watt smiles. "Of course! So, Reborn, why don't you tell us how you came to know Iemitsu?"

Nana's question lead into a long conversation that continued to the point that Nami was growing hungry. A glance at the clock showed it was past lunch time.

"Oh dear, would you look at the time!" Nana fussed around, gathering up the glasses and returning them to the kitchen. "I'm terribly sorry Reborn, but I have an appointment I need to get to. Nami, could you fix lunch for the both of you?"

"Sure thing." Getting up, Nami stretched, enjoying the quiet popping of her joints after sitting for so long. "I'm not as good a cook as Mom is, but I'm not half bad. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," Reborn replied. Nami wasn't sure if she was just self conscious being around a man as attractive as Reborn, but she felt like he was quietly watching her every move as she walked across the room to the kitchen.

"Thanks again, Nami," Nana smiled as she returned from a quick trip upstairs to grab her purse. "I'll see you later, Reborn. If I'm not back, Nami can help get you settled into the guest room." A second later her shoes were on and she was out the door.

"Do you have a restroom I could use?" Reborn asked, resting an arm against the doorway to the kitchen. Even after talking the morning away, Nami still enjoyed listening to his accent.

"Yeah. Just head up the stairs. It's the first door on the left." Putting on an apron, Nami opened up the fridge and pulled out everything needed to throw together a simple lunch of rice balls and fruit. Reborn was a much better guest than she could have hoped for. She'd figured an acquaintance of her dad's would be some old boring guy. Were all her dad's work acquaintances like Reborn? That would make her dad the old man of the company.

Smirking at the thought, Nami finished molding the last of the rice balls and washed the few remaining pieces of sticky rice off her hands. She'd taken into account that Reborn probably wasn't familiar with eating with chopsticks, so hopefully he wouldn't mind the simple meal, but it would be easier for him to eat.

It was as she was chopping up a melon that she felt it. She hadn't even heard him come down the stairs, and they were squeaky! Only she and her mom knew how to go up and down the stairs without making noise.

"Is there a reason you're staring at me Reborn?" Nami asked, turning around, knife still in hand. A low chuckle and approving glint of his eyes were her answer.

"Your observation skills are decent, I'll give you that." Reborn walked into the kitchen and pulled out a chair. The way he sat down and leaned back in it had Nami feeling like prey being stared down by a predator. Subtly she shifted her stance and grip on the knife. "Hoh?" Reborn smirked. "Does the little rabbit want to play?"

"...I think I'm missing something here." Nami frowned. It wasn't a complete turn around, but something was off about Reborn now. "Is that an Italian joke because I don't get it."

"It's not a joke." The way his eyes narrowed just so made her hairs stand on end. This wasn't good. She'd been on the receiving end of killing intent before, and Reborn's was much more concentrated and controlled. Her gut told her he was only letting a sliver of it through.

"Who are you really, and what do you want?" Nami almost snarled. This guy was good. Neither she nor her mom had picked up on anything abnormal until he allowed it, and he'd obviously been waiting to get her alone. Going to the restroom after her mom left allowed ample time to make sure she hadn't forgotten something and would run back in.

"Allow me to properly introduce myself." Reborn's hand strayed to his waist, and an instant later a gun was pointed in her direction. "My name is Reborn, and I'm the world's greatest hitman. I've been sent here to prepare you to take over the Vongola —the strongest family in the mafia— by the current Ninth Don and your old man." Another movement of his hand and the gun was gone from sight again.

"Excuse me?" Nami narrowed her eyes as Reborn's killing intent vanished.

"Iemitsu informed me you'd have no idea of this when I arrived, so I'll give you the short and sweet version for now." Reaching into the inner pocket of his vest, Reborn pulled out several papers and placed them on the table where Nami could see them.

"If you follow your family tree back through Iemitsu," Reborn tapped the largest paper which looked to do just that, "you're a direct descendant of the original leader of the Vongola. The current leader, Timoteo, is descended through the brother of the First. These are his sons," Reborn continued, tapping three photos that were on the table next to the map. Stepping a little closer to see better, but not too close, Nami could see the relation between the three.

"And this," he said reaching into his pocket and producing three more photos, "is them now." Nami blinked. Over each of the photos Reborn laid another one — each more gruesome than the last. "The Ninth's first son was killed in a fued with an enemy family." The man looked a lot worse off for the bullet wound to the head.

"The second son was turned up drowned in a river after being missing for over a week." Nami didn't spare more than a glance at the grotesque image of the bloated body. She had an idea where this was going, and she didn't want to allow Reborn out of her focus.

She met his steady gaze with her own. "...And the third son? What happened to him?"

"We still don't know actually." Reborn laid down the final photo that showed nothing but bones. "His security had been heightened seeing as he was the remaining heir, but in the week before he was to inherit this happened."

"I see." Nami swallowed dryly, fingers adjusting around the knife handle as Reborn stared her down. "And I need to know this why?"

"Two months ago, after the death of the third son, the family started searching back through the Vongola family line to find another heir." With a couple quick hand motions, Reborn gathered up all the photos and the family tree and returned them to his pocket. "All the other lines died out, and because of his position as external advisor, Iemitsu is ineligible to inherit. That leaves you."

Nami shot Reborn a glare. She'd still been looking at that family tree, discretely. "But why me? Wouldn't it be better to find someone who was raised in the mafia and pass the ruling line onto a new family at this point?"

"I can see why you'd think that as an outsider, but no. You see, bloodlines are very important in the mafia for more reasons than one."

"Enlighten me then."

"I think it would be better if we saved that conversation for after lunch." Nami wanted to argue, but she could feel the hunger pangs in her stomach and she was starting to get a headache that didn't entirely have to do with what Reborn had just told her. Food would do her good now, and give her brain a few minutes to process things.

"Fine," she sighed after a long moment. Twirling the knife around in her hand she pointed the tip at Reborn's heart. "But you're to keep your hands in my sight in the meantime. I can tell you're not lying, but that doesn't mean I trust you right now."

With a smug smirk, Reborn leaned forward in his seat, lacing his fingers together and resting his chin on them. "You know I could draw my gun and shoot you before you could make a move."

"I'm not in the mood for this right now, so just go back to pretending to be a gentleman. Maybe I'll get lucky and you'll choke." Keeping Reborn in her peripheral at all times, Nami set the food down on the table with a couple of plates.

After a tense, and on her part, terse —Reborn had taken his sweet time, probably just to annoy her— lunch, Nami warily sat back down at the table after clearing away the remaining food and dishes.

"Alright, convince me there isn't some backdoor way out of this. Cause from what I can tell, you'd make a better mafia leader than me right now."

"I don't have an interest in that sort of thing, but that's not the point. This is." Nami watched as Reborn held his hand out in front of him, palm up. After a moment a bright yellow flame appeared as if from nowhere. She stared at it for a moment before it all clicked and she left out a long suffering sigh.

"Spirit fire. Of course it would have to be something to do with that," she muttered, burying her face in her hands.

"You're familiar with it?" She could almost hear the surprise in Reborn's voice. The guy must be a master poker player, but she'd take what little satisfaction she could get. Rubbing at her face, Nami let out another sigh. "Yeah, I'm familiar with it." Pulling her hands away from her face, Nami held up a pointer finger. A moment later a deep orange flame was dancing on its tip.

"You can already control your dying will flames? Iemitsu didn't mention that." Reborn's eyes were locked on the flame with a sharp intensity.

"Dying will flames? Is that what you call spirit fire in Italy? Weird." Extinguishing the flame, Nami let her hand drop to the table. All the fight seemed to have up and left her. "Dad doesn't know I can use it. Until right now, I didn't know he knew it existed."

"Then how did you learn about it and come to control it?"

"That's a secret, and not important right now." She rubbed absentmindedly at her temples. She took everything back she thought about Reborn being a great acquaintance. This whole ordeal was turning into a headache.

"What is important is how spirit fire ties in with me being the next leader of this Vongola. I know that spirit fire follows the Mendelian Laws to an extent, and since you said bloodlines matter I'm assuming that there's a specific spirit fire you look for the leaders to have? Possibly a purified one since it's been passed down for generations?"

"Normally bosses have dying will flames of the sky type, but what do you mean they follow Mendelian Laws?"

"Mendel's three laws about dominant and recessive genes—"

"I know what it is." Nami couldn't decide if she was imagining the inflections in Reborn's voice or not, but he seemed annoyed. Did he not like that she'd inferred he didn't know something? "I've just never heard it used in regards to dying will flames."

"Oh, I figured that was common knowledge for anyone who deals with spirit fire." Bingo. Something in her gut told her he wasn't happy with that comment, but he did well not to show it. Pride is a form of vanity after all. "Though it can get slightly more complicated as each type of spirit fire has both dominant and recessive manifestations, and there's also the priority hierarchy to consider…" Realizing Reborn was staring at her a little too intensely, and that his hand was millimeters closer to his gun, Nami took a moment to clear her throat.

"Right, moving on." And she thought Hibari was testy. Now the question was: is this considered Reborn on a good day or a bad day? "Which color is it that you call sky?"

"Orange." Reborn's hand retreated as he assumed a position of alert relaxation. "I'm assuming you call them something different."

"Spirit fire is simply referred to by color, so a quick rundown of what you call each color would probably be helpful."

Not missing a beat, Reborn rattled them off rapid fire sequence. "Orange is sky, yellow is sun, red is storm, blue is rain, purple is cloud, indigo is mist, and green is lightning." Nami took a moment to run the names through her head and commit them to memory, ticking each one off with a finger.

"Okay, I think I've got it. So, a big part of the reason behind me being the next heir is that I inherited sky flames from dad it seems. Even in spirit fire users orange is hard to come by."

Leaning back, Reborn gave a nod of his head. His minute emotional changes were enough to give Nami whiplash. "It's one of two big reasons, the other one being the belief of bloodline supremacy within the mafia. You see, Giotto, or Primo as he's often called, was the founder of the Vongola, and most believe that a higher quality flame runs through his bloodline. There has been some credence to this over the generations."

Nami raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"

"Earlier you said you could tell I wasn't lying, but you had no previous knowledge of what I told you, so how did you come to that conclusion?"

"...I guess you could call it instinct. Mom has always said I have an uncanny ability to know and sense things."

"In the mafia that's known as hyper intuition, and it's passed down through direct descendants of Primo. No other known cases of such a sharp instinct, as you call it, have ever been noted outside of Primo's line."

"That's rather odd. Any theories on why?"

"There's been lots of theories and rumors on the subject, but the most accepted, and I use that term loosely, is the idea that Primo did something to gain the blessing of a deity or some other worldly being that bestowed him and his descendants with this ability."

"I see." Nami furrowed her brow in thought. Over the course of a conversation her life had suddenly gotten a lot more complicated, and she still didn't know all the facts.

Reborn spared a glance for the clock on the wall. "I'm assuming your mother will be home soon?"

"Yeah, most likely," Nami replied, getting up out of her seat. She'd been sitting way too long, and with all the digesting her brain had to do, she really just wanted to go for another run despite the heat. "I'm assuming all of this is to be kept a secret from her since you waited until we were alone to _ambush _me?"

"Good to know you aren't stupid." Nami was confident he was silently laughing at her.

Resisting the urge to retort, she instead gave Reborn a thin smile. "I'll take that backhanded compliment for what it was. Despite your gentlemanly looks, you're far less suave than I expected, Reborn." Insult delivered if the minute darkening of his eyes was anything to go by.

"On the contrary," Reborn said as he rose from his own seat and crossed the kitchen to her. Nami stood firm in her spot despite the invasion of her personal space. Leaning down as he was taller than her, Reborn chuckled deeply near her ear. She could smell his cologne now, a warm spice mixture with just a hint of metal and something she couldn't place.

"I can be quite charming when I choose to be," his breath tickled the shell of her ear, "but it would only end in heartbreak for you, and trouble for me since you're my student now." Straightening back up, he smirked down at her. "In the end, it's better this way."

"Well, aren't you just a charmer?" Nami gave a saccharine smile while attempting to smash Reborn's toes with her heel. He moved his foot at the last second.

"You'll have to do—"

Nami was already moving to take his legs out from underneath him, forcing Reborn to jump away. The sound of the front door opening prevented either of them from making another move, but their eyes promised that this wasn't over.

"I'm home! What did I miss?"

**End Chapter One**

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This is my first attempt at writing in a couple years. Let me know what you think.


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